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Philippine News and Events, September 1948

The Mindanao Post, Wednesday, 1 September 1948

The escort destroyer Malabacat and Morong were completed today in the Butuan navy yard, and have embarked upon their builders’ trials and operational training. Work continues on their sisters, the Socorro and the Solano, which are due to complete in December of this year. Elsewhere in the Butuan yard the antisubmarine gunboats Centinela and Serviola were launched and towed to the yard’s fitting out wharf to complete their construction.

A squadron of the Philippine Navy, consisting of the battlecruiser Mindanao and four destroyers, entered Hong Kong today, anchoring in Victoria Harbour. This represents the first formal visit of Philippine naval vessels to Hong Kong in many a year. It is anticipated that the Mindanao and her consorts will remain for several days, before returning to Manila.

The Philippine logistics landing ship Lanao edged into Tam Sa’s harbor under the control of a pilot. She slowly made her way to a hard and after making fast dropped her bow ramp, disgorging a number of loaded trucks and field cars, together with a small detachment of Philippine Air Force maintenance personnel. A party of officers from the Indochinese military met them with the appropriate formalities.

Sometime later the Philippine detachment was busily setting up shop in a compound somewhat separated from the rest of the growing Indochinese base on the island. One hangar, and one combination warehouse/office/barracks housed them. It was expected that this would suffice to tend to the needs of any PAF, or PNAS, aircraft that should find it necessary to stage through Tam Sa.

The China Mail (Hong Kong), Thursday, 9 September 1948

The Philippine battlecruiser Mindanao and her escorting destroyers have completed their visit here and have departed for Manila, where it is expected they should arrive by Sunday.

This morning saw the departure of a delegation of technical specialist from the Philippine Aircraft Development Company for the Russian Federation, where they will study the manufacturing techniques for the MiG-15 fighter aircraft. Their work will see them spend several months at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft factory, and upon their return they will lead the license production of the MiG-15 for the Philippine Air Force. A similar delegation of Russian technical specialists is expected to arrive here next month, to assist in the preparation of new factory facilities and the acquisition of tooling.

The Ministry of Defense revealed today that construction of the first planned “sea fort” at the Scarborough Shoals naval station has begun. Three such forts are planned, though the present funding is sufficient only for the first of these. The ministry spokesman indicated that the concrete platforms upon which the structural steel of the forts themselves have been poured and it is expected that erection of the forts will commence sometime late next month, and continue through the winter.

Commander Trevor Stevens’ monthly report to the Navy Department in Washington was smaller than the one he had filed the previous month. Shipyards throughout the archipelago were working flat out to complete vessels previously projected; according to his informants, and his own observations, only two new vessels – a pair of antisubmarine gunboats, would be laid down before the end of the year. Far more importantly, a large number of ships would complete in the coming months, substantially strengthening the Philippine Navy.

His gleanings also indicated that 1949 would continue the frenetic building program. Besides the vessels already building the Philippine Senate was debating another naval expansion law that would authorize eight new ocean escorts to counter China’s expanding submarine threat – and – if rumors were true – a 26,000-ton battlecruiser would follow. It had been many years since the Philippines had laid down a capital warship but Chinese acquisitions would seem to have prompted a change in strategic thinking.

Philippine News and Events, October 1948

The Mindanao Journal, Friday, 1 October 1948

The antisubmarine gunboats Vigía and Atalaya were laid down today in the Butuan naval shipyard. These vessels are accorded priority status and it is expected that they will be launched before the end of the year. They have been preceded by six sister vessels, two of which are still under construction. As the Senate is still debating the naval program for the next fiscal year it is unclear at this time whether this class of vessel will be continued.

Yesterday Minister of Education Francisco Benitez presided over the dedication of a new polytechnic school at Languyan, Tawi-Tawi. The school will increase opportunities for technical and higher education among the people of the province, who heretofore were expected to venture as far as Mindanao for such schooling. The minister also promised that three new grammar schools are to be established over the course of the next two fiscal years – this atop the four schools built within the province in the last three years. Taken together it represents a significant commitment of the part of the Government to meet the educational needs of its citizens.

Commander Trevor Stevens returned to his office and carefully hung up his uniform jacket; Manila’s heat was stifling, and the ceiling fan provided small relief. He sat down to write up his impressions of the morning’s activities – he had been to attend the launching of the latest of the Philippine Navy’s cruisers, the Batangas, and the opportunity to observe the work in the Cavite dockyard was illuminating.

He could easily see the progress on the Batangas’s sister, the Benguet, where work proceeded at the yard’s fitting out wharf – she was having her main armament installed. The cruiser Tarlac was nearing the point where she too would be launched – his hosts had indicated that would occur sometime early in the coming year. So too, they said, would be the keel laying of a fourth cruiser, the Sorsognon, and he had observed the preliminary work on the slipway where she would be built. Besides two destroyers fitting out alongside the Benguet, he could see two more inside Cavite’s Number One Dry Dock, where they were nearing their own launch; he made a note to inquire, in the event he was invited to the ceremony.

It is right and proper that we note and applaud the recent additions to the combat forces of the Philippine Navy, our first line of defense. In the last months our destroyer flotillas and submarine force have seen substantial augmentation, with further vessels to come in the months ahead. But it is also proper to recognize the wisdom of the Senate and the Naval Staff in strengthening the Navy’s service forces. Today marks the final commissioning of the recently completed minesweeper support ships Sabtang and Siayan, as well as the minelayer support ships Toboso and Talaingod. Though unsung, the work of the Navy’s minecraft is vital to the protection of our waters, and these four support vessels with multiply their ability to carry out their missions.

In the fading light of dusk the newly operational submarines Cygnus and Claravis stood down the channel that led to the open sea. Each would be escorted by a minesweeper until night fell completely; then, under cover of darkness, they would begin their patrols. Sealed orders would be opened, disclosing the details of their individual missions, but the officers and crew of each boat had a good idea where they would be going – the South China Sea was the favorite destination for Philippine submarines, where they would monitor Chinese shipping and naval movements. It kept the Navy’s submarine arm sharp, ready to react against the Chinese threat each man knew would come someday – the dragon’s hunger was insatiable.